Choosing which kicker to start in fantasy football can become a paradoxical trap at times. If you think too hard about it, you'll often start the wrong players. But if you don't think too hard, sometimes you forget about important situations that can make a big difference in their scoring.
At the very least, you want kickers who are on good offenses, so they get plenty of opportunities to score. But then weather, injuries to both teams' offenses and defenses, recent injuries to the kicker, weather, and even game scripts are important.
Let's break down three kickers and whether you should start them this week.
Should I Start Will Reichard for Fantasy Football?
At the very least, Minnesota Vikings kicker Will Reichard should be in a starting lineup in every league every week. He's on an elite offense and has elite accuracy and great range. There isn't much else to consider here.
Will Reichard nails a 52 yarder pic.twitter.com/ThtjjKqYNG
— Bama NFL 🎄 (@TheBamaNFL) December 17, 2024
He scored 15.0 and 12.0 fantasy points in his last two games. That's good WR3/FLEX production. Start Reichard.
Should I Start Jason Sanders for Fantasy Football?
This is another easy one. Miami Dolphins kicker Jason Sanders is the 6th ranked kicker this year, and the offense has continued to give him plenty of chances to kick field goals this season. Miami isn't great in the red zone, which also helps greatly. You want teams that fail to punch it into the end zone so the kickers get more shots at scoring.
🚨 Jason Sanders has been named the AFC Special Teams Player of the Week (@NFL) #GoFins pic.twitter.com/oOt6sbAtHo
— FinsXtra (@FinsXtra) December 24, 2024
And he continues to show that he can make a high volume of kicks and maintain his accuracy. He's been a steadily great veteran presence for the team for some time now.
Should I Start Chase McLaughlin for Fantasy Football?
Tampa Bay Buccaneers kicker Chase McLaughlin is a great start as well. He's the 8th-ranked kicker this year. As opposed to Sanders, a problem with McLaughlin is that his team is too good sometimes. Tampa Bay has excelled at punching the football past the goal line this season, through the air especially.
One of the best throws of Baker Mayfield’s career
— Steve Palazzolo (@StevePalazzolo_) December 15, 2024
It's not quite as great for a kicker to be relegated to kicking a ton of extra points, though it does give him a nice floor. Still, if you're trying to choose between the man from the Bucs and the guys from the Vikings or Dolphins, we'd go with Reichard here.
Minnesota has had troubles in the red zone, as their running backs have failed to score on plenty of goal-line carries this season. So we like him the best out of this group. Miami has had a similar issue, so we rank Sanders as the second-best kicker from this piece, leaving McLaughlin as the third.
They're all good options, though.
Popular Week 17 Searches - Start/Sit Comparisons
Below are some popular Week 17 searches and comparisons from our Who To Start tool for Will Reichard, Jason Sanders, Chase McLaughlin compared to others. You can also use the free Who Should I Start tool to run your own start/sit comparisons, up to four players at once:
Kaimi Fairbairn or Chase Mclaughlin
Justin Tucker or Chase Mclaughlin
Chris Boswell or Chase Mclaughlin
Kaimi Fairbairn or Will Reichard
Justin Tucker or Will Reichard
Jake Bates or Chase Mclaughlin
Cameron Dicker or Will Reichard
Brandon Aubrey or Will Reichard
Kaimi Fairbairn or Will Reichard
Chris Boswell or Will Reichard
Harrison Butker or Will Reichard
Chris Boswell or Will Reichard
Justin Tucker or Jason Sanders
Cameron Dicker or Chase Mclaughlin
Harrison Butker or Chase Mclaughlin
Tyler Bass or Will Reichard
Wil Lutz or Jason Sanders
Chris Boswell or Will Reichard
Jake Bates or Will Reichard
Tyler Bass or Chase Mclaughlin
Wil Lutz or Will Reichard
Chase Mclaughlin or Chase Mclaughlin
Jake Elliott or Will Reichard
Will Reichard or Jason Sanders
Kaimi Fairbairn or Will Reichard
Harrison Butker or Jason Sanders
Cameron Dicker or Jason Sanders
Chase Mclaughlin or Will Reichard
Harrison Butker or Jason Sanders
Cameron Dicker or Will Reichard
Chase Mclaughlin or Jason Sanders
Jake Elliott or Will Reichard
Wil Lutz or Chase Mclaughlin
Brandon Aubrey or Chase Mclaughlin
Jake Elliott or Chase Mclaughlin
Jason Sanders or Will Reichard
Zane Gonzalez or Chase Mclaughlin
Harrison Butker or Will Reichard
Jake Moody or Will Reichard
Kaimi Fairbairn or Jason Sanders
Brandon Aubrey or Will Reichard
Brandon Mcmanus or Jason Sanders
Brandon Mcmanus or Will Reichard
Brandon Mcmanus or Will Reichard
Cameron Dicker or Will Reichard
Chase Mclaughlin or Jason Sanders
Chris Boswell or Will Reichard
Jake Bates or Chase Mclaughlin
Jake Bates or Chase Mclaughlin
Jake Elliott or Will Reichard
Jason Sanders or Will Reichard
Joshua Karty or Will Reichard
Joshua Karty or Will Reichard
Kaimi Fairbairn or Jason Sanders
Tyler Bass or Jason Sanders
Wil Lutz or Will Reichard
Will Reichard or Chase Mclaughlin
Will Reichard or Jason Sanders
Brandon Mcmanus or Jason Sanders
Brandon Mcmanus or Jason Sanders
Cade York or Jason Sanders
Cameron Dicker or Jason Sanders
Cameron Dicker or Will Reichard
Chad Ryland or Jason Sanders
Chad Ryland or Jason Sanders
Chase Mclaughlin or Jason Sanders
Chase Mclaughlin or Will Reichard
Chris Boswell or Chase Mclaughlin
Chris Boswell or Chase Mclaughlin
Chris Boswell or Will Reichard
Dalton Schultz or Will Reichard
Harrison Butker or Jason Sanders
Harrison Butker or Will Reichard
Jake Bates or Chase Mclaughlin
Jake Moody or Jason Sanders
Jason Myers or Will Reichard
Jason Sanders or Will Reichard
Joshua Karty or Jason Sanders
Justin Tucker or Chase Mclaughlin
Kaimi Fairbairn or Jason Sanders
Matt Gay or Jason Sanders
Ray Davis or Will Reichard
Stone Smartt or Will Reichard
Wil Lutz or Jason Sanders
Wil Lutz or Jason Sanders
Zane Gonzalez or Jason Sanders
Zane Gonzalez or Will Reichard
Brandon Aubrey or Jason Sanders
Brandon Aubrey or Jason Sanders
Brandon Aubrey or Jason Sanders
Brandon Aubrey or Will Reichard
Brandon Mcmanus or Chase Mclaughlin
Brandon Mcmanus or Will Reichard
Brandon Mcmanus or Will Reichard
Cameron Dicker or Chase Mclaughlin
Cameron Dicker or Chase Mclaughlin
Cameron Dicker or Chase Mclaughlin
Cameron Dicker or Will Reichard
Cameron Dicker or Will Reichard
Chad Ryland or Chase Mclaughlin
Chad Ryland or Jason Sanders
Chad Ryland or Jason Sanders
Chad Ryland or Will Reichard
Chase Mclaughlin or Will Reichard
Chris Boswell or Jason Sanders
Chris Boswell or Jason Sanders
Chris Boswell or Will Reichard
Chris Boswell or Will Reichard
Daniel Carlson or Will Reichard
Harrison Butker or Jason Sanders
Harrison Butker or Jason Sanders
Harrison Butker or Will Reichard
Harrison Butker or Will Reichard
Harrison Butker or Will Reichard
Harrison Butker or Will Reichard
Harrison Butker or Will Reichard
Harrison Butker or Will Reichard
Harrison Butker or Will Reichard
Jake Bates or Chase Mclaughlin
Jake Bates or Will Reichard
Jake Bates or Will Reichard
Jake Elliott or Jason Sanders
Jake Moody or Will Reichard
Jason Myers or Jason Sanders
Jason Sanders or Chase Mclaughlin
Joshua Karty or Jason Sanders
Justin Tucker or Chase Mclaughlin
Justin Tucker or Chase Mclaughlin
Justin Tucker or Chase Mclaughlin
Justin Tucker or Will Reichard
Justin Tucker or Will Reichard
Kaimi Fairbairn or Will Reichard
Kaimi Fairbairn or Will Reichard
Marvin Harrisonjr or Chase Mclaughlin
Nick Folk or Jason Sanders
Terry Mclaurin or Will Reichard
Tyler Bass or Chase Mclaughlin
Tyler Bass or Jason Sanders
Tyler Bass or Jason Sanders
Tyler Bass or Will Reichard
Wil Lutz or Chase Mclaughlin
Wil Lutz or Jason Sanders
Wil Lutz or Jason Sanders
Wil Lutz or Jason Sanders
Will Reichard or Jason Sanders
Zach Ertz or Chase Mclaughlin
Zane Gonzalez or Chase Mclaughlin
Zane Gonzalez or Chase Mclaughlin
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